Seoul Book Fair Opens to Massive Crowds as Reading Becomes Cool Again

South Korea's biggest literary event, the Seoul International Book Fair, kicked off Wednesday at COEX with 150,000 expected visitors over five days. The fair features 538 publishers from 18 countries and 326 authors exploring this year's theme: what it means to be human in the age of AI. Young people are driving a "text-hip" trend, making reading fashionable again among Gen Z and younger audiences.